Dec 2, 2009, 8:32 GMT
Bangkok - The Thai Supreme Administrative Court relaxed Wednesday part of the investment ban at a key industrial estate known as Map Ta Phut.
The court said that 11 of 76 suspended projects were now free to go ahead but that there were still concerns over the polluting potential of the other projects that remained suspended.
The court decision will come as a relief to the business community that feared an overly protective posture might severely curtail new investment at a critical time for Thailand's economy, observers said.
The government said gross domestic product growth could be cut by half a per cent if the ban was pursued.
Many industry lobbies worry that the issue might drag on well into next year. The unexpected news on Tuesday that a partial Map Ta Phut decision would be made this week sent the Bangkok stock market up 3 per cent.
Some important projects by the state energy giant PTT were among those allowed to continue.
Judge Kasem Komsatyadham said that since Thailand had become a more advanced nation over the previous few decades the priority should be the protection of ordinary people's quality of life and the environment.
It was right that Thailand should use the same standards in these matters as developed countries and that the authorities be as a result more responsible for the quality of life, the judge added.
A citizen's group had requested that all 76 projects - worth 9 billion dollars - under development in an estate dominated by petrochemical plants on the Eastern Seaboard industrial area be abandoned.
The Thai government has already earmarked 405 million baht (12 million dollars) for environmental improvements in the Map Ta Phut estate in 2011 and 2012.
The still suspended projects are likely to have to be rejigged to conform to the health impact limits laid out by the National Health Commission and a special parliamentary committee investigating the issue, said industry representatives.
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